This two-part article series discusses the benefits of dental implants over traditional teeth replacement techniques: conventional bridges and removable dentures.

Dental implants get an extremely unfair and unjustified rap for being expensive. Our strange perception of value has, in many cases, deemed this advanced and sophisticated teeth replacement technology “too expensive” and “unnecessary” especially with the availability of cheaper options. These options are traditional dental bridges and removable dentures, which can be used to address single tooth loss and a failing dentition respectively. Yet, if you take a closer look, you will see that these alternative technologies simply cannot rival the benefits and longevity of dental implants. Actually, they could end up costing you more in the long run!

In order to develop a deeper appreciation for the price of new teeth, we spoke to the dental implant specialists responsible for the replacement of missing teeth using this remarkable technology. They provided the following points to explain just why traditional bridges and removable dentures can counter-intuitively work out to be the more expensive teeth replacement choice.

Reasons Traditional Bridges Ultimately AREN’T Typically Cheaper Than Dental Implants

Traditional dental bridges are designed to take the place of a missing tooth crown. They consist of a series of ceramic crowns that have been bonded together. The two outer crowns are placed over the healthy teeth neighboring the empty tooth socket, enabling them to provide support for the middle crown, which is suspended in the gap. Here, it assumes the functional role of the missing tooth crown, but not the root.

Dental implants, on the other hand, are placed directly in the jawbone into a surgically prepared “sockets”. In this respect, a dental implant resumes the role of the root, supporting the crown of the replacement tooth or teeth and thus not damaging or compromising any existing neighboring teeth. In other words, dental implants are freestanding and, just like natural teeth; they rely almost exclusively on the jawbone for support.

So, upon closer inspection, we see that the real cost of new teeth with traditional bridges can include:

• Two perfectly healthy teeth: The supporting natural crowns have to be filed down to nubs in order to support the bridge. This means that the price you pay for new teeth can “cost you” two healthy teeth as well!

• The increased risk of further tooth loss: Traditional bridges tend to leave the supporting teeth at a greater risk of bacterial decay. Bacteria and food debris can also work their way underneath the replacement tooth crown, not only risking infection, but also discomfort and unpleasant symptoms, including bad breath and a persistent bad taste in the mouth.

• Atrophy of the underlying jawbone: The tooth roots play a vital role in maintaining jawbone health. When they go missing and are left without replacement (as is the case with bridges, which only replace the crowns), the jawbone can atrophy. This causes the bone level to drop around the site of the missing tooth or teeth, contributing to the destabilization of the entire dental arch and possibly leading to a greater risk of further tooth loss.

• Restoration and replacement: Unlike dental implants, traditional bridges tend to require frequent restoration and, typically every 10 to 15 years, replacement altogether. Dental implants can boast an impressive lifespan of 20 and 30 years or even longer if looked after properly! So while you might initially fork out less money for a bridge, in the long run, factoring into account repeat costs of restoration and replacement, dental implants almost always work out to be the smarter investment.

To add insult to injury, bridges don’t tend to feel natural, which causes patients no end to discomfort and self-consciousness.

Stay Tuned for Part 2

In Part 2 of this article series, we shall discuss the many reasons removable dentures may not ultimately be cheaper than dental implants as an option for new teeth.

This article explains how the “All-On-4” dental implant protocol makes it possible for patients to go from being edentulous (toothless) to having new teeth in just one day!

There are currently tens of millions of people in the United States who are living without most or all of their original teeth. Countless more are facing an immediate future of a state referred to as “edentulism” – not having a single natural tooth left in your mouth. The most common cause of tooth loss is tooth decay and periodontitis: an advanced bacterial infection of the gums, also known as gum disease.

Removable dentures have been the preferred method of teeth replacement for millions of Americans because, for many years, the alternative approach using dental implants would take as many as 12 or even 18 months in and out of surgery. The associated costs of repeat procedures would also work out to be exorbitantly high. This was until the innovation of a new dental implant protocol designed to give patients new teeth in a day.

Where’s the catch? There isn’t one!

How the “All-On-4” Works

The picture above illustrates, in concept, how the “All-On-4” dental implant technique works. Through the precise and strategic placement of four dental implants, qualified dental healthcare specialists can provide patients with new teeth in the form of a prosthetic dental bridge. Instead of replacing tooth by tooth in a series of dental implant surgeries, which need to be spread out over the course of a year to a year-and-a-half, this entire procedure can be done in just one day, in a single appointment.

That’s right; the “All-On-4” can give candidates new teeth in a day.

How the protocol manages this is:

1. Through the use of only four dental implants in order to give patients new teeth. This can easily be achieved in just one procedure.

2. Through the use of 3-D Cone Beam CT scans and sophisticated computer software to visualize the patient’s unique case and meticulously plan treatment ahead of surgery.

3. The avoidance of bone grafting surgery through the strategic choice of implant sites in regions of the jaw that are naturally more resistant to atrophy and so contain sufficient bone volume to support implants. Bone grafting would otherwise require several months in recovery before a patient can even receive new teeth.

These key factors, coupled with the incredible advancements that have been made in the field of fixed oral rehabilitation and dental implant surgery, and the skill and experience of the oral surgeons and prosthodontists who make it happen, explain how it’s possible for patients to get new teeth in a day. Even better, owing to the fewer number of implants and surgeries and the fact that the “All-On-4” seldom requires bone grafting beforehand, the cost of new teeth is also greatly reduced!

A Final Note on the “All-On-4”

The “All-On-4” protocol is regarded as a “breakthrough” in the field of dental implantology for many reasons, but perhaps most especially because it can give patients new teeth in just one day. With only one surgery needed and as little as a few days spent in recovery, this amazing procedure is helping to rehabilitate America’s millions of edentulous and near-edentulous citizens. And at a cost that is very affordable!